After a hiatus of about 10 years, bands returned last month to the nightclub on Central Avenue. This weekend, Mark Gamsjager and the Lustre Kings perform Friday, and the Chris Dukes Band plays Saturday.

John Mancini, the owner, reopened Pauly's last December after it had been closed three years. His goal was to offer music, and he kicked off Sept. 30 with Ernie Williams, the local blues legend.

"We've got some hurdles to overcome," Mancini says. "The first one is a lot of people don't even know we're back open. And the next one is, people who know about us think it's kind of a dumpy spot, or there's a lot of college kids running around.

"The place is clean, all redone inside. The sound's good. It's the best it's been in 40, 50 years."

"We're aiming for the bigger, local bands," Mancini says. "But I'd like to get to the point where once or twice a month we'd have a regional or even national act come in. What we're trying to do right now is build the base crowd. Word is getting out. It's getting better every week."